————-CHILDHOOD MEMORY————
The sun was beginning to dip behind the rooftops, turning the sky soft orange and lavender. Lanterns flickered on in the nearby park, casting long, stretched shadows across the pavement. Haru was running — breathless, panicked, eyes wide and scanning every corner.
"Haruka!" he shouted, voice cracking. His chest was tight. "Haruka!"
He shouldn't have taken his eyes off her. One second she was beside him, skipping toward the swings. The next — gone.
His shoes scraped against the sidewalk as he turned a corner, and then he saw her. Just behind the tall hydrangea bushes, crouched near a rusted fence, Haruka sat with her head down. Her hands were wrapped tightly around her knees, and though she was trying so hard not to cry, her sniffles gave her away.
Haru rushed over and dropped to his knees, the gravel biting into his legs. "Haruka," he gasped, grabbing her shoulders. "Why did you run off?! I—I thought something happened—!"
Her lower lip trembled. "I was following a butterfly… but it flew away. I didn't know where you went…"
That was all it took. Haru yanked her into his arms, crushing her against his small chest. She clung to him instantly, fingers twisting into the back of his shirt.
"I thought I lost you," he whispered. "I got so scared…"
She mumbled something into his shoulder — something like "I'm sorry" — but Haru couldn't stop crying. His tears dropped into her hair, and hers soaked his shirt. For a long moment, neither of them said anything else. Just held on. Tight. Like if they let go, the other might disappear again.
Footsteps approached. Their mother appeared, her breath caught and eyes wide in relief. "There you two are," she said gently, and in an instant she was kneeling down and wrapping them both in her arms.
"I love you both," she whispered, rocking them gently, burying her face into their hair. "So, so much."
She scooped them up — Haruka in one arm, Haru in the other — and stood, carrying them as they curled into her like kittens. Haru kept his face tucked into her shoulder, gripping her sleeve like a lifeline. Haruka's small hand found his, and she squeezed it.
The sky continued to darken as they were carried home — safe, warm, and still holding on.
————————————————
Haru stood motionless. Haruka's body still sat there in that horrible, unnatural position — knees folded beneath her, her small frame slumped against the damp earth like a discarded doll. Her head lolled at an angle, her neck and arm mauled and mangled, her blood dried into the ground beneath her.
He had been standing there for hours.
At first, his breathing had been frantic, shallow. Then it dulled to silence. Now, his chest barely rose and fell. His legs ached, but he didn't sit down. He couldn't. It felt wrong to rest when she never would again.
He kept thinking — maybe if he stared long enough, her eyes would flutter open. Maybe she'd cough, move, say his name.
But she didn't. Her mouth was still slightly open from when she tried to speak, blood crusted at her lips.
And then the memory hit him.
Anything that dies in the Limbo is forgotten in the living world.No extra toothbrush in the bathroom.No more scribbles on the fridge. No more family photos where she stood beside him.
His mother wouldn't remember the baby girl she once held. teachers wouldn't call her name.
He swallowed a sob, but it pushed its way out anyway. Then another. He clutched her limp hand — small and cold — and buried his forehead against her shoulder.
"Please…" His voice cracked. "Please don't be gone… I can't—"
But there was no response. Only silence.
——GROUP AIRI AND KAITO—-
Every step Airi and Kaito took echoed unnaturally off the warped walls. The green glow from torches lining the halls gave the shadows long, stretching fingers that curled along the floor like they were reaching for them. The deeper they went, the colder it became — not the kind of cold that made your skin shiver, but the kind that settled deep into your chest and sat there, heavy.
When they entered the throne room, they both stopped.
There was no battle. No chaos.
Only her.
Haruka's body sat slumped forward in a kneeling position at the center of the room, her head bowed like she was sleeping. But she wasn't. Her long black hair veiled most of her face, matted with blood, clinging to her shoulders. Her small frame leaned slightly to the side, her right arm clearly torn off at the joint — the bone exposed, stained and jagged like a snapped doll limb.
The floor beneath her was soaked in dried, blackened blood that had long stopped dripping. Bits of flesh, claw marks, and clawed footprints littered the marble.
Kaito gasped — too loudly. Airi's hand flew over his mouth. For a long moment, neither of them moved,but the silence wasn't peaceful. It was loud. There were no sounds of battle. No breathing. No crying.
Airi's heart pounded "She-she's dead…this..no.."
"She's… gone," he whispered.
Airi's eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall. "How… how did this happen?"
They didn't know. They didn't understand. The horror of seeing their friend, so lifeless and broken, was enough.
Neither of them noticed that Haruka's hairpin was missing — her signature accessory now nowhere to be found.
Kaito stood slowly, his face pale. "We have to find the others."
Airi nodded, swallowing hard. "But… we can't leave her here."
The palace twisted endlessly around them, its corridors growing darker and colder with every step. Airi and Kaito moved carefully, carrying Haruka's limp body between them. Neither spoke much—words felt too heavy, too fragile.
After what felt like hours, Airi spotted a small door tucked into a corner of the palace, partially hidden behind a crumbling tapestry. She pushed it open gently.
Inside was a forgotten alcove, a quiet sanctuary amid the ruin. The walls were lined with delicate carvings of blooming flowers and graceful birds, long untouched by time. Soft rays of pale light filtered through a cracked stained-glass window, casting fractured rainbows across the marble floor
Kaito helped Airi lower Haruka's body onto a polished stone bench. Airi brushed a strand of hair from Haruka's face and gently closed her eyes. The stillness of the room wrapped around them like a fragile shield.
Airi broke the silence, voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think we should do this without the others? Should we…"
Kaito shook his head slowly. "I don't think we have a choice. They won't find us—or her—for hours. The palace… it's trying to separate us all. If we leave her where she is now, she might get lost forever."
He looked down at Haruka's peaceful face, pale and fragile beneath their careful hands.
"This… it's the best kind of funeral we can give her. Even if it's not much, at least she's not just lying somewhere forgotten."
Airi nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You're right."
They both stood, lingering a moment longer in the quiet beauty of the alcove, holding onto what little peace they could find.
They stood quietly beside Haruka's resting place in the alcove. The fractured light from the stained glass played softly across her peaceful face, a stark contrast to the violence that had taken her.
Airi knelt down gently, her voice breaking the silence. "I wish I could have gotten to know you better, Haruka. You were a very sweet and kind girl."
Kaito lowered his gaze, hands clenched at his sides. "I really wish we could have been closer, Haruka. Rest in peace."
For a moment, the palace seemed to hold its breath, the weight of loss settling heavily between them.
Then, steeling themselves, they turned away — knowing they had to find the others, even as a piece of their hearts stayed behind.